Peter kirk



(No Model.)

P. KIRK.

MANUFAUTURE OF COMBINED CHAIRS AND SLEEPERS.

No. 325,094. Patented Aug. 25, 1885.

llNiTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER KIRK, OF \VORKINGTON, COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND, ENGLAND.

MANUFACTURE OF COMBINED CHAIR AND SLEEPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 325,094, dated August 25, 1885.

Application filed February 19, 1885. (No model.)

Patented in England November 22, 1884, No. 15,396; in France January 31, 1885, No. 154,190; in Belgium February 2, 1885, No. 67,772, and in Spain February 21, 1885, No. 1,137.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PETER KIRK, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and residing at \Vorkington, county of 011mberland, England, have invented certain Improvements in and in the lllannfacture of Combined Chairs and Sleepers, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 15,396, dated November 22, 1884; in France, No. 154,190, January 31, 1885; in Belgium, No. 67,722, February 2, 1585; in Spain, No. 1,137, February 21, 185,) of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to the chairs and sleepers employed in the formation of permanent way, and particularly to the combinations of such appliances wherein the chairs are formed of rolled steel or iron, and are attached to the rolled sleepers, the principal object of my invention being to obtain a firmer and more durable attachment. To this end I form-each chairin one piece or in two pieces, and I form upon the lower side of each chair or piece one, two, or more tongues, which enter slots punched or formed in the sleeper and are riveted thereon. I prefer in all cases to perform the riveting operation when the parts to be united are at a weldingheat, so that the chair is welded, or more or less welded, to the sleeper, or I rivet or partly rivet or clinch the parts, then complete the operation after the parts have been heated. In order to obtain a firmer hold upon the sleeper and to furnish a stronger base for the chair and the rail, I prefer to thicken the sleeper at the two places which are to come below the rail.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical longitudinal section of part of a metal sleeper and ofjaws in position to be fixed thereto to form a chair, and Fig. 2 represents a corresponding section of the same parts after the riveting and welding operation is completed.

In Fig. 1, a is the sleeper, and b c are the two jaws of a chair. lhe sleeper may be of the cross-sectional form indicated in Fig. 3, or of any suitable form. At the part which comes below each chair the sleeper is made thicker, as seen at a. This thickening I produce by forming recesses in one of the rolls or in the rolls, but in some cases it may be expedient to weld thicker resting-pieces to the sleeper at required places.

The jaws b and 0 may be made of steel or of wrought-iron rolled to suitable sections and sawed or cut into lengths. I do not, however, confine myself to any method of forming these jaws. Each jaw is rolled or formed with a tongue or tenon, b c.

In the proper. places in the top part of the sleeper I punch slots of dimensions suited to the lengths and breadths of the tongues or tenons, so that the latter can be inserted in the slots, the tongues or tenons when so inserted projecting below the metal of the sleeper, as seen in Fig. 1. These tongues are riveted up so as to unite the jaws firmly to the sleeper.

In practice I bring the parts to a weldingheat before riveting up, and I weld the parts together as much as possible, so as to combine the chair with the sleeper as firmly or nearly as firmly as if the parts had been formed of one piece of metal. I may vary the process by riveting the parts together roughlythat is to say, by clinching or hammering down the projecting tongues to some extent before heating the parts to a weldingheat, the welding being completed after such heating.

In Fig. 2 the jaws of the chairs are supposed to have been so welded to the sleeper as to form one homogeneous piece with the sleeper, Fig. 3 representing a cross-section of the sleeper. In these figures, d represents an ordinary donble-headed rail secured within the jaws of the chair by means of a key, 0 but I do not confine myself to any particular form of chair or of jaws to form chairs, as the formation of these parts will vary according to the form or section of the rail or to the means employed to secure the same within the chairs or aws. J I may divide each tcngue or tenon into two or more parts and form corresponding slots or holes in the sleeper. Such a formation isillustrated in Fig. 3, wherein the tongue 0 is divided into two parts by punching out or removing part of the tongue, or otherwise two tongues are formed on the jaw and two slots in the sleeper. In some cases I may add the additional metal to the top of the sleeper instead of to the under side of the same. Fig. 4illust-rates such a case. In this example the sleeper is formed to carry fiat-bottomed rails, and the thickened top of the sleeperisinclined, so as to give to the rail the usual cant or inclination. The jaws 'b and c are riveted and weldel to the sleeper, as in the example illustrated by Fig. 1, but the jawc is much smaller, being only required to serve as an abutment for the bottom flange or foot of the rail.

Instead of the chair being composed of two separate jaws welded or secured to the sleeper in the manner set forth, a complete chair, made of steel or ofwrought iron, and form ed with two or more tongues or tenons, may be welded or secured to the sleeper by riveting the tongues or tenons into slots orflholes formed in the top of the sleeper, and by preferably welding the parts together, as in the cases of the said jaws.

I prefer to make the chairs or the jaws b c of steel, either rolled, as aforesaid, or cast in the required form, as a more elastic grip upon the rail is obtained; but I may use any description of iron or steel which will weld, rivet, or clinch so as to be capable of being firmly united with or secured to the sleeper without the aid of separate rivets or bolts.

Hydraulic or other pressure may be used in effecting or completing a union of the parts or in finishing the combination.

It may be convenient to press the jaws of the chairs in suitable dies after the welding operation in order to complete their formation or to bring them upto the gage.

It will be understood that the sleeper is made of a length suitable to the requirements, and is provided with two chairs or sets of holding-jaws.

1. A rolled steel sleeper to which are secured chairs or jaws by welding tongues or tenons on the chairs or jaws into slots orholes formed in the sleeper, substantially as and for the purpose set forth and indicated.

2. A combined metal sleeper and chairs formed by riveting, clinching, or welding tongues or tenons rolled or formed on the metal chairs or rail-holding jaws into slots or holes punched or formed in the sleeper, substantially as and for the purpose set forth and indicated.

3. In a metal railway and tramway sleeper, the steel or iron sleeper, to which are secured jaws b c by welding tenons b 0, formed on the jaws into slots punched or formed in the sleeper, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witneseses.

WVitnesses: PETER KIRK.

EDWARD K. DUTTON, D. FULTON. 

